Twilight: 2000 - Under a Blood Red Sky | Home
SSG William Thomas Johnson
William Thomas Johnson was born 10 July 1981, the third child of George Robert Johnson and Rachael Anne Gunderson, at Grand Harbor, ND. He was raised on a small, diversified grain and cattle farm outside of the northern ND town, with his brother James Edward and his sister Sarah Jayne. Growing up, the whole family was involved in the 4H program, with his parents as the club's leaders. He had various projects in 4H, from chickens to steers, vegetables to wheat. In high school, he joined the Future Farmers of America, where he learned mechanics, construction, and general farming, skills he hoped to someday apply to a farm of his own.
But money was tight, although he had managed to save a small nest egg, it would not be enough for college without tuition assistance, let alone make a down payment for a farm and all the equipment needed to run it. He contemplated joining the Army, his father and uncle, both Vietnam vets, encouraged him in this. After he graduated, in August 1999, he enlisted in the Infantry, and after graduating OSUT training at Ft. Benning, GA, he was assigned to the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) at Ft. Cambell, KY. Being a single soldier, and having a drive to succeed, he often spent his off duty time at the post library, reading in his room, or surfing the internet, to learn more about the Infantry and the Army in general. He was selected for the Combat Lifesaver course, and earned his Expert Infantryman's Badge.
In 2002, he was reassigned to the 172nd Infantry Brigade at Ft. Wainwright, AK. He enjoyed his new duty station, honing his cross-country skiing skills, and his free time was often spent hunting for caribou, moose, and bear, as well as fishing the salmon runs. In 2004, he was promoted to SGT and reassigned to the 1/5th Infantry Battalion, 25th Infantry Division at Ft. Lewis, WA. He had family in the area, his great uncle and several cousins had moved to Olympia after WWII. It was through one of his cousins that he met Alicia Cambell, a local school teacher. Never a ladies man, he was enthralled with Alicia, and a romance bloomed, with them spending most of their free time together. Then Hell came to the Puget Sound area.
Bill had CQ duty on 04 July 2005 in the barracks basement doing and arms room check when the alarms went off. He was securing the door when the ground shook, knocking him to the floor. Managing to make it back to the orderly room, he found the windows shattered and the phones dead. He went outside and looked north, and saw to his horror a mushroom cloud already forming over the city of Bremerton. In his shock he remembered that Alicia was spending the day in Bremerton with her family.
During the next few months, the 1/5 was tasked with crowd control, feeding the refugees, and helping in the recovery of the regions infrastructure. Bill had lost his girlfriend and, he feared, his family as well, his home was within 40 miles of a Minuteman field to the east, and another 50 miles to west. Things were starting to become routine, when they received word of the Soviet invasion of Alaska. They were sent, along with other Ft. Lewis units, were sent north by rail to deal with this new threat. As they crossed Canada, they were met by the Russian advance at Prince Rupert, BC, short of the Alaskan border.
Over the next 6 months, Bill, with the rest of the 1/5th, fought a withdrawl back down the line of march they had just cruised up. Johnson, now a Staff Sergeant, was wounded in action at Prince George, and was evacuated back to Vancouver. He was returned to duty within 6 weeks, before he was fully recovered, but troops were desperately needed. The Soviet onslaught had streamrolled south to Vancouver, seeming to pause at the American border. The Battalion commander regrouped the 1/5th, and ordered them to set up blocking positions inside the state of Washington. The Soviets surprised them by hitting their left flank, using their remaining hovercraft and local ferries that had not been scuttled. Their commander managed to regroup and fight for a short time, but as the Russian advance continued, and with casualties mounting, the Americans finally broke and fled south.
As the survivors arrived in the area of Centralia, they were met by members of the Oregon National Guard. "Where the Hell have you been?" was a common question asked by the survivors of the 1/5th. Reorganized into fire teams, they set a trap for the Soviet horde. The Battle of Centralia was a resounding success, with oily plumes of smoke towering over the Douglas firs marking the burning tanks of the Red Army. The ambush stopped the assualt long enough to evacuate both refugees and surviving soldiers back across the Columbia River into Oregon. blowing up the bridges that crossed it in the faces of the Russians.
Since then, he has been the acting First Sergeant of B Company, stationed at Camp Clark. His most important concern is the welfare of his troops, and has spent the last three years doing everything he can to to better the living conditions for them. He has sandy blond hair, fair skin, and pale blue eyes, and has 2 prominant scars, one 6" long on his abdomen, and another on his left arm from his wrist to his elbow.
Stats
Fitness - 11 Stature - 7
Education - 12 Intelligence - 13
Strength - 9 Agility - 9
Skills
Combat Rifleman - 60 Wheeled Vehicle Driver - 65
Pistol - 40 Swimming - 20
Heavy Weapons - 40 Scrounging - 50
Indirect Fire - 30 Foraging - 40
Forward Observer - 40 Fishing - 20
Thrown Weapon - 40 Mechanical - 60
Melee Combat - 30 Metalurgy - 20
Body Combat - 50 Electrical - 20
Recon - 70 Civil Engineer - 30
Medical - 40 Farming - 40
Instruction - 30 Skiing - 30
Equipment
1 set of faded fatigues, boonie hat, home-made winter coat and mittens, ID and pictures, notebook, watch, Zippo lighter, pouch of tobacco, corn cob pipe, maglite
Survival kit containing 20m steel wire, 100m 5kg test fish line, razor blade, candle, fish hooks, waterproof matches, electrical tape, duct tape
1m nylon rope, binoculars, Swiss Army knife, Leatherman tool
LBE w/ 2 ammo pouches, 6-30rnd spare mags, canteen w/ cover and cup, 2 Frag grenades, K-Bar, first aid kit, compass, buttpack
M16A2, Para Ordnance .45 automatic, 2 spare 15 rnd mags in Tanker style shoulder holster, Mossburg shotgun w/33 rnds 12ga., Remington 30.06 w/ 300 rnds, 60x spotting scope
Kevlar Helmet w/ cover, Kevlar Body Armor, gas mask. 2km hand radio, sleeping bag, 2 OD wool blankets, waterproof bag, small rucksack, med kit, weapons cleaning kit, poncho w/ liner, 2 pr socks, foot powder
Medium Rucksack, 1 set fatigues, 4 pair socks, 2 t-shirts, 2pr shorts, sweater, sleep shirt, scarf, 2pr longjohns, sewing kit, spare parts and firing pin for M16, Bible, 3 paperback books, candle, messkit, toiletries kit
Folding cot, Coleman lantern w/ 2 spare mantels, coffepot w/ 4 cups, skinning knife, 0.5kg coffee, 0.3kg sugar, 0.2kg hard candy, 1 ream notebook paper, colored pencil, 12 lead pencils, map case with maps, sharpener, fishing rod, tacklebox, assorted books, atlases,36 volumes of Encyclopedia Brittannica, mountain bike, tire repair kit, basic tool kit, airpump, 5L Jack Daniels, foot locker w/ lock, 25 doses antibiotics, 10 doses mild pain releiver, 15 doses mild sedative, sewing needles
$136 in greenbacks on his person, $1235 hidden underneath CP floor (Unit Funds)